DEVELOPING PRE­READING TASKS WITH FIRST­YEAR STUDENTS OF ENGLISH­MAFOR DIVISION, DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SCIENCE, VINH PHUC COLLEGE AN ACTION RESEARCH

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
DEPARTMENT OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES
*****************

VŨ QUỲNH HOA

DEVELOPING PREREADING TASKS WITH FIRSTYEAR STUDENTS OF
ENGLISHMAFOR DIVISION, DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SCIENCE,
VINH PHUC COLLEGE: AN ACTION RESEARCH
(NGHIÊN CỨU HÀNH ĐỘNG VỀ VIỆC PHÁT TRIỂN HOẠT ĐỘNG GIAI
ĐOẠN TRƯỚC KHI ĐỌC VỚI SINH VIÊN NĂM THỨ NHẤT CỦA TỔ NGOẠI
NGỮ, KHOA XÃ HỘI, TRƯỜNG CAO ĐẲNG VĨNH PHÚC)
M.A. MINOR THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology
Code: 60140111

HANOI – 2016


VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
DEPARTMENT OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES
*****************

VŨ QUỲNH HOA

DEVELOPING PREREADING TASKS WITH FIRSTYEAR STUDENTS OF
ENGLISHMAJOR DIVISION, DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SCIENCE,
VINH PHUC COLLEGE: AN ACTION RESEARCH

(NGHIÊN CỨU HÀNH ĐỘNG VỀ VIỆC PHÁT TRIỂN HOẠT ĐỘNG GIAI
ĐOẠN TRƯỚC KHI ĐỌC VỚI SINH VIÊN NĂM THỨ NHẤT CỦA TỔ NGOẠI
NGỮ, KHOA XÃ HỘI, TRƯỜNG CAO ĐẲNG VĨNH PHÚC)
M.A. MINOR THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology
Code: 60140111
Supervisor: Vũ Thị Thanh Nhã, Dr.

HANOI – 2016


TABLE OF CONTENTS
DECLARATION

i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

ii

ABSTRACT

iii

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

iv

LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES

v

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1

1.1. Rationale of the study

1

1.2. Aims of the study

2

1.3. Research questions

2

1.4. Significance of the study

2

1.5. Scope of the study

2

1.6. Method of the study

3

1.7. Design of the study

3

CHAPTER 2: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
2.1. Introduction

5
5

2.2. Theoretical background of reading………………………………………….5
2.2.1. Definitions of reading

5

2.2.2. Types of reading

6

2.3. Teaching and learning reading skills
2.3.1. The importance of reading in foreign language learning
2.3.2. Stages of a reading lesson

9
9
10

2.4. Theoretical background of prereading task……………………………….11
2.4.1. Overview of prereading tasks………………………………………....11

2.4.2. Prereading tasks……………………………………………………….12
2.5. Summary…………………………………………………………………...16
CHAPTER 3: THE METHODOLOGY

17

3.1. Introduction…………………………………………………………………17
3.2. Situation analysis

17


3.2.1. The setting of the study

17

3.2.2. Reading materials

17

3.2.3. Schedule of the course

20

3.3. Participants…………………………………………………………………21
3.4. Data collection instruments

21

3.4.1. Questionnaire

21

3.4.2. Class observation

22

3.5. Methods of data analysis…………………………………………………...23
3.6. Research method……………………………………………………………23
3.6.1. Definitons of action research

23

3.6.2. Action research model

24

3.7. Summary……………………………………………………………………26
CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS

27

4.1. Introduction…………………………………………………………………27
4.2. Findings

27

4.2.1. Cycle 1

27

4.2.2. Cycle 2

36

4.2.3. Cycle 3…………………………………………………………………37
4.3. Summary

37

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION

39

5.1. Introduction…………………………………………………………………39
5.2. Discussion

39

5.3. Implications

40

5.4. Limitations and suggestions for further studies

41

REFERENCES

42

APPENDIXES

46

APPENDIX A: THE SECHDULE OF COURSE……………………………........46
APPENDIX B: SAMPLED COPY OF UNIT 4 & FIELD NOTE 1 & LESSON
PLAN………………………………………………………………………………48


APPENDIX C: SAMPLED COPY OF UNIT 5 & FIELD NOTE 2 & LESSON
PLAN………………………………………………………………………………60
APPENDIX D: SAMPLED COPY OF UNIT 6 & FIELD NOTE 3 & LESSON
PLAN………………………………………………………………………………70
APPENDIX E: SAMPLED COPY OF UNIT 7 & FIELD NOTE 4 & LESSON
PLAN………………………………………………………………………………83
APPENDIX F: SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE I……………………………….....94
APPENDIX G: SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE II………………………………..96


DECLARATION
I certify that the work contained in this thesis is the result of my own research, and
this thesis has not been submitted for any degree at any other university or
institution.
Hanoi, January 2016
Signature

Vũ Quỳnh Hoa

6

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I am indeed thankful to my supervisor, Dr. Vũ Thị Thanh Nhã, whose sympathetic
guidance has been the source of inspiration and knowledge for my research. I am
also grateful to other teachers of the Department of PostGraduate Studies for their
encouragement and valuable advice.
I have profound regards for all the teachers of Englishmajor Division of Vinh Phuc
College and for all of the Englishmajor freshmen of the class 18 who spent their
precious time on completing my survey questionnaire. Without their enthusiastic
cooperation, my thesis would not have been completed.
My great thanks are also given to my family and my friends who have constantly
supported, inspirited and encouraged me during the process of my study.

7


ABSTRACT
This action research focused on finding out the primary problem related to using
prereading tasks; hence, the major purpose of the study aimed to develop pre
reading tasks for improving students’ reading performance. The research was
conducted with firstyear students of Englishmajor Division, Department of Social
Science, Vinh Phuc College. Data were collected through 4 observed lessons and
two sets of survey questionnaire delivered to 32 freshmen of the class 18 English
after the lessons. The research findings revealed the problem of ineffective use of
prereading tasks in reading lessons as well as its causes and effects on students’
reading performance. Finally, I also presented suggestions for developing pre
reading tasks that the teachers have used in their reading lessons for improving
students’ reading performance.

8


LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
AR: Action Research
No: Number of students
Ss: Students

9


LISTS OF FIGURES AND TABLES
Figure 1: Action research procedure
Figure 2: Simple action research model (Kemmis & McTaggart, 2008, p.278)
Figure 3: Detailed Action Research Model (Susman, 1983)
Table 1: Students’ assessment on the first lesson
Table 2: Students’ assessment on prereading tasks used in the first lesson
Table 3: Reasons for effectiveness and ineffectiveness of prereading tasks
provided by the students
Table 4: Students’ assessment on exercises and tasks at the while and post reading
stages in the first lesson
Table 5: Students’ comments on techniques for more efficient prereading tasks in
the next lesson
Table 6: Students’ assessment on the first tryout lesson
Table 7: Students’ assessment on prereading tasks used in the first tryout lesson
Table 8: Reasons for effectiveness of prereading tasks provided by the students
Table 9: Students’ assessment on exercises and tasks at the while and post reading
stages in the first tryout lesson

10

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1. Rationale
In colleges, English has been a compulsory subject in the curriculum. Attention is
given to all of the four English skills including reading, listening, speaking and
writing. However, reading plays an important role in enriching the student’s general
knowledge and in developing their further study later. In highlighting the
importance of reading, Langer (1981, p.153) stated that “reading is the most
important activity in any language class, not only as a source of information and
pleasurable activity, but also as a means of consolidating and extending one’s
knowledge of the language.” Moreover, reading helps students learn other skills
better. Reutzel (1985), for example, acknowledge that anyone who reads more has
various vocabularies and receives marks better for grammar and writing tests.
Also, Carrell (1984, p.1) confirms that, by far, for numerous students, in English as
a second language, reading plays the most crucial role of the four skills. Teaching
reading, consequently, has attracted greater attention. However, in reading classes, it
is common that students do not absolutely know about topic of the text they are
reading about. Thus, prereading stage in each reading lesson becomes
indispensable for introducing and for arousing interest in the topic; for motivating
learners by giving a reason for reading and for providing some language preparation
for the text (Williams, 1986, p.37).
At Vinh Phuc College, where I work, teaching reading is extremely essential in
developing all of the four basic English skills for students. As a teacher of English
here, I am teaching reading skill to firstyear students of Englishmajor division,
Department of SocialScience. I realize prereading stage in each lesson has
significant effects on the students’ reading performance. However, using pre
reaching tasks in each prereading stage is far from satisfactory. In other words, pre
reading tasks I used in each reading lesson had not led to effective performance.
These tasks were so not only simple but also ineffective that they could not

motivate students for reading, provide prior knowledge or build necessary
background for comprehending the text. Therefore, I decided to carry out the action
research to develop prereading tasks for firstyear students of Englishmajor Division,
Department of SocialScience, Vinh Phuc College. Based on the findings of this
action research, some changes and improvements can be applied in my lessons, and
some appropriate strategies need to be designed with the hope that students will
work more effectively in a reading lesson. I hope that the findings of this study will
be shared with other teachers who have experienced similar problems.

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1.2. Aims of the Study
The main purpose of the study is to develop prereading tasks in reading lessons for
Englishmajor freshmen at Vinh Phuc college. Specifically, it aims at:
•
finding out the problems the firstyear Englishmajor students at Vinh Phuc
College encountered in prereading tasks.
•
giving the teacher’s solutions for these problems and emphasizing on the
effects of the intervention on the students.
•
providing the implications for developing prereading tasks to improve
students’ reading performances.
1.3. Research questions
The above aims of the study can be realized by the following research questions:
1. What problems did the firstyear Englishmajor students at Vinh Phuc College
encounter in prereading tasks?
2. What could the teacher do to solve these problems? What were the effects of the
intervention on the students?

3. What were the implications for developing prereading tasks to improve students’
reading performances?
1.4. Significance of the Study
Theoretical significance of the study:
The study synthesized the problems related to using prereading tasks in reading
lessons and their effects on students’ performance. Furthermore, the research
suggested how to effectively develop prereading tasks to improve students’ reading
performance.
Practical significance of the study:
The study is expected to improve using prereading tasks in reading lessons at Vinh
Phuc College. Based on some findings of the study, some suggestions of developing
effective prereading tasks are given for teachers and students to enhance students’
reading performances.
1.5. Scope of the Study
Although there are various factors that influence the students’ reading performance
in reading lessons, I only focus my study on one of these factors – i.e. developing
prereading tasks effectively to improve students’ reading performance in reading

12


lessons. The study was conducted at course 18 English in 4 lessons. Each lesson
lasted 4 periods (45minutes/ period).
1. 6. Method of the research
The research method I used is the action research. The study was carried out with
the process adapted by Tsui (1993) including five concrete steps: identifying
problems, finding causes of the problem, designing strategies for improvement
(plan for action) and writing a proposal for action research, trying out the strategies
(action) and evaluating the tryout. These steps were grouped into four phases in the
following figure

Figure 1: Action research procedure
These steps were described more concretely in the chapter 3 on methodology
1. 7. Design of the study
The main body of this thesis consists of five chapters:
Chapter 1: Introduction: presents the rationale, the aims, the significance, the
scope, the method and the design of the study. Herein, the research questions are
also raised.
Chapter 2: Theoretical background: provides the definition of related concepts
and reviews the related works that compose the theoretical background of the study.
Chapter 3: The Methodolody: presents situation analysis, identifies the research
method and gives detailed descriptions of the data collection tools (survey

13


questionnaire and classroom observation), methods of analysis as well as the
participants of the study.
Chapter 4: Findings: presents, analyzes the findings of the research.
Chapter 5: Conclusion: summarizes the discussion of research findings, gives
some teaching implications, and discusses the limitations of the study as well as
suggestions for further research.

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CHAPTER 2: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
2.1. Introduction
This chapter reviews the theoretical issues of prereading tasks divided into three
sections: the theoretical background of reading, teaching and learning reading skills

and the overview of prereading tasks. The first one discusses the theoretical
background of reading including definitions of reading, types of reading. The
second section focuses on teaching and learning reading skills consisting of
importance of reading in foreign language learning and stages of reading lesson.
The third one emphasizes on the theoretical background of prereading tasks which
comprises an overview of prereading tasks and a classification of these tasks.
2.2. Theoretical background of reading
2.2.1. Definitions of reading
There are various definitions of reading. Herein, I also would like to mention
different points of view on the definition of reading.
In the simple way, Ur (1996, p.138) defines that “reading means reading and
understanding”. In other words, specifically, reading is regarded as a process in
which the readers look at the reading text and receive the significance of the
message from the text (Williams, 1984 and Aebersold and Field, 1997).
Another interesting definition of reading by Harmer (1989) is that reading is
considered as an exercise with the eyes and the brain. The brain works to
understand the message from the reading text after this message is received by the
eyes.
A definition of reading is offered by Rubin and Thomson (1994, p.91), “reading is
an active informationseeking process in which readers relate information in the text
what they already know”. From this point of view, both the reader’s knowledge of
the language and their background knowledge play the significant role for their
reading success.
Reading is also defined as the interaction between the reader and the author.
According to Smith (1978, p.102), “reading is understands the author’s thought”.
He also explained that “it means that wethe readersread the author’s mind not the
author’s words”. In addition, reading is described in a more extensive way: “reading
is understanding written language”, “reading is a complex mental process”,
“reading is thinking” (Roe, Stood and Burns, 1987, p.2).

15


In short, from these theories above, it is obvious that no definition can likely consist
of all aspects or features of the definition of reading. Each linguist’s definition only
reflects what reading means as seen from his own point of view. However, they all
focus on the nature of reading.
2.2.2. Types of reading
According to Brown (1989), there have been several types of reading. These types
may be categorized as follows:
A. Oral
B. Silent
I.
Intensive
II.
Extensive
a. Skimming
b. Scanning
2.2.2.1. Oral reading
Doff (1988, p.70) states that oral reading involves “looking at the text,
understanding it and also saying it. Its purpose is not just to understand a text but to
convey the implication to someone”. From this point of view, oral reading is not
only the simple way of reading the text aloud, but it also is an effective way to
convey the significance of the text to someone.
Oral reading has both advantages and disadvantages. According to Natal (1966),
oral reading is regarded as an effective method for learners to improve their
pronunciation. It helps learners to make the connection between sounds and spelling
of letters and words and also assists the teacher to check learners’ pronunciation.
Moreover, it is a technique for him to keep the class under control, since when one
student reads aloud, the others are asked to listen in case they may be required to

continue the reading.
However, Greenwood (1985) provides some disadvantages of oral reading. The
biggest problem of oral reading is that students may unable to focus adequately on
the text’s meaning when they highly concentrate on pronouncing the words. In
other words, when reading aloud, students only focus on the pronunciation instead
of the meaning of the text. The second disadvantage is that when students take turn
to read a text aloud, only one student is active; the others do not have to read. It can
be inferred that there is little value in reading aloud for improving the readers’
reading skills. Therefore, the teachers as well as educators should identify the level

16


of their students and decide whether to apply reading aloud or not in teaching
reading to their students.
2.2.2.2. Silent reading
According to Doff (1988, p.67), “silent reading involves looking at sentence and
understanding the message it conveys, in other words making sense of a written
text. It does not normally involve saying the words we read nor even silently in our
heads”. When reading silently, students not only understand the message of the text
but also get the main ideas of the text for answering the questions.
In conclusion, silent reading is an effective skill for reading process in general and
reading comprehension in particular, since the teacher can check his or her students’
understanding easily and can adjust the reading materials and exercises to suit the
students’ ability. Moreover, students also mainly focus on the meaning of the text
instead of pronunciation. Therefore, it should be applied in teaching and learning a
foreign language.
Within the category of silent reading, the two types of reading named are intensive
and extensive reading. Intensive reading is used to teach or practice specific reading
strategies or skills. The text is treated as an end in itself. Extensive reading on the

other hand, involves reading of large quantities of material, directly and fluently. It
is treated as a means to an end. It may include reading simply for pleasure or
reading technical, scientific or professional material. It can be concluded that they
are two contrasting ways of reading; however, actually, they are complementary and
both are necessary.
2.2.2.2.1. Intensive reading
Nuttall (2000, p.38) points out that “intensive reading involves approaching the text
under the guidance of a teacher or a task which forces the student to focus on the
text”. In other words, intensive reading is described as a classroomoriented activity
in which the teacher guides his students mainly to focus on the text.
Another definition of intensive reading provided by Grellet (1981, p.41) is that
“intensive reading means reading short text to extract specific information. This is
an accuracy activity in involving reading for detailed”. Another author, Brown
(1990, p.297) has pointed out that reading “recalls students’ attention to
grammatical forms, discourse markers, and other surface structure details for the
purpose of understanding literal meaning, implications, rhetorical relationships, and
the like”. From these points of view, we can infer that the objective of intensive
reading is to achieve a full understanding of the text not only of what it means but

17


also of how the meaning is produced. Through intensive reading, the reader must
arrive at a profound and detailed understanding of logical arguments, the rhetorical
arrangement, the pattern of the text, the attitude and purposes of the writer. In other
words, intensive reading is reading for accuracy which is essential to the students’
comprehension.
2. 2.2.2.2. Extensive reading
Grettle (1981, p.4) confirms: “extensive reading means reading longer text, usually
or one’s own pleasure. This is a fluency activity mainly involving general

understanding”. Carrell and Carson (1997, p.4950) share the same view point of
extensive reading with Grettle; they state that “extensive reading generally involves
rapid reading of large quantities of material or longer reading for general
understanding, with the focus generally on the meaning of what is being read than
on the language”. Thus, extensive reading is regarded as a useful activity for
students’ selflearning. In Brown’s view point (2001), extensive reading helps
students enrich their language elements because it is one of the key to achieve
reading ability, linguistic competence, vocabulary, spelling and writing.
To summarize, extensive reading is one of the best ways to improve students’
reading performance. The reason for this is that extensive reading is carried out “to
achieve a general understanding of a text” (Brown, 1989, p.31). Basing on the
purposes of reading, extensive reading may involve two specific types of
reading, scanning for key details and skimming for the essential meaning.
Firstly, scanning is one of the effective skills commonly used in reading
comprehension. There have been numerous definitions of scanning. According to
Brown (2001, p.308), scanning is defined as “quickly searching for some particular
piece or pieces of information in a text”. Also, Williams (1987, p.7) stated that
“scanning occurs when a reader goes through a text very quickly in order to find a
particular point of information”. From these view points, it is inferred that scanning
is very high speed reading for finding a particular piece of information. Therefore,
scanning is regarded as a useful skill to help the readers to skip over unimportant
words and to focus on searching the details they want. In addition to definitions of
scanning, Grellet (1981, p.19) also provides a more detailed one that “when
scanning, we only try to locate information and often we do not even follow the
linearity of passage to do so, and scanning is far more limited since it only means
retrieving what information is relevant to our purpose”. In brief, these above authors
all have the same point that scanning is a useful technique for quick and efficient

18

reading. Thus, it can be practiced with the great range of texts such as dictionaries,
maps and labels.
Secondly, based on the theory of skimming made by Brown (2001, p.304),
“skimming consists of quickly running eyes across the whole text for its gist.
Skimming gives readers the advantage of being able to predict the purpose of the
passage, the main topic, or message, or possibly some of the developing or
supporting ideas”, it can be understood that skimming is also one of the specific
reading techniques necessary for fast and effective reading. Greenwood (1981, p.92)
also shares the same view point with Douglas (2001), he indicates that “the reader
goes through particular passage such as newspaper article merely to get the gist”.
From these two opinions, it can be inferred that skimming is also a skill that enables
readers to get the main idea of the text without any concern for details. In general,
skimming is a very useful reading skill for developing students’ reading
performance, also it is advisable to apply at the first stage of teaching reading with
the hope that it can help them to have an overview of what they are reading.
Moreover, it will be easier for them to deal with the other tasks that followed.
2.3. Teaching and learning reading skills
2.3.1. The importance of reading in foreign language learning
In the process of teaching and learning English as a second foreign language, the
teaching and learning of reading are always received much attention, since reading
is considered as one of the most basic and important skills as what Carrell (1984,
p.332) indicates: “for many students, reading is by far the most important of the
four macro skills, particularly in English as a second or foreign language”. It is also
true for teaching and learning reading at Englishmajor Division, Department of
SocialScience, Vinh Phuc College. In detail, at our college, teaching and learning
reading is also very crucial because reading is not only one of the most important
skills, but it is also remarkable for developing students’ other skills. According to
Rivers and Temperly (1978), reading skill is an integratedlanguage skill. Firstly,
reading helps students enrich vocabulary and grammatical structures, and improve

students’ performance in summarizing the reading materials. As Richard (1992, p.4)
states that “reading may help to increase knowledge of the target language through
exposure to new vocabulary and grammatical structures”. Secondly, reading is also
concerned for improving listening skill. Rivers and Temperly (1978, p.259) point
out that “listen to worthwhile reading or dramatic presentation of what they have
read. The aural element adds vividness and life to the reading unit”. They also
further state that “practice in direct reading of a text which is readily accessible to

19


the students at their present level of knowledge, while they are simultaneously
listening to a taped model reading it in meaningful and expressive segments, can
help students develop useful habits of anticipation and syntactic identification in
both of these skills”. Finally, that is integration of reading and speaking skills.
Reading materials are regarded as a useful source for oral presentations when
students can get information as well as ideas from these materials for discussion and
presentation.
Besides, reading also helps students to approach the target culture. It is stated by
Richard (1992, p.4) as follows: “reading in the new language is also an important
way to learn about the target culture”. In details, reading is regarded as a significant
way for students to get knowledge of the target culture as lifestyle, behaviors,
thoughts, custom of the native people.
In short, “reading is the most important activity in any language class, not only as a
source of information and pleasurable activity, but also as a means of consolidating
and extending one’s knowledge of the language” (Rivers, 1981, p.147). In addition,
reading also reinforces students’ other language skills and becomes a source of
interesting knowledge of different culture for students.
2.3.2. Stages of a reading lesson
Many linguists all share the same view point that each reading lesson is divided into

three stages which are prereading stage, whilereading stage and postreading stage
(William, 1984; Dubin & Bycina, 1991; Phillips, 1985). William (1984) also
indicates that each of these stages carries its own features and requires different
techniques and strategies.
Firstly, prereading stage is the first core step of the process of each reading lesson.
It not only creates motivation towards the reading text, but it also provides students
language preparation for the text before they read. In detail, William (1984) lists
three principle purposes of the prereading stage. The prereading phase aims to
introduce the topic of the reading text and stimulate students’ interest, to activate
background knowledge and to provide preliminary vocabulary for the reading.
Sharing William’s view point, Doff (1988) suggests several tasks in the prereading
phase. The first one is giving a brief introduction to the text. This task provides
students some ideas about the topic of the reading text before reading and creates
motivation with the reading text. The second activity is presenting new vocabulary
and revising grammatical structures whose aims are to provide vocabulary related to
the text and to review the old and new grammatical structures for better preparation
for the whilereading stage. The last task is giving students guiding questions

20


referring to the general idea of the text to brainstorm about the topic before they
read the text. General speaking, the prereading phase is extremely necessary for an
excellent preparation before reading. It can arouse students to focus on the topic or
the reading text. Furthermore, it also provides students vocabulary and grammatical
structures to deal with the text.
Secondly, the whilereading stage is the main part of a reading lesson with the
following specific aims to help understanding of the writer’s purpose, to help
understanding of the text structure and to clarify text content (William, 1984, p.38).
The techniques applied in this stage widely vary from guessing new words in

contexts, asking questions to notetaking. Teachers, at the phase, need to encourage
students to understand the text as well as the author’s purposes conveyed through
the reading text. In conclusion, the whilereading phase plays the important role in
the process of a reading lesson. Therefore, the teacher should create various
activities in the stage for improvement of students’ reading performance.
Finally, the postreading phase is regarded as the time for students’ production.
What they produce will reflect how well they comprehend the reading text. William
(1984, p.39) points out that “the postreading stage is aimed at consolidating or
reflecting upon what has been read and relating the text to the learners’ own
knowledge, interests or views”. To summarize, this stage is also an essential for a
reading lesson. The teacher, at the phase, need to focus on create activities for these
above purposes. In addition, teacher should not ignore this stage.
2.4. Theoretical background of prereading tasks
In this section, I review the theoretical background and various studies related to
prereading tasks and present a list of different prereading tasks suggested to conduct
at the prereading stage. Hence, this section consists of two main parts, namely, the
overview of prereading tasks and a classification of various leadin tasks for the prereading stage.
2.4.1. Overview of prereading tasks
According to Ringler and Weber (1984), prereading tasks are defined as enabling
ones, since they help the readers get the necessary background for understanding the
reading materials. Another definition of prereading tasks provided by Lazar (1993)
is that prereading tasks are regarded as ones that provide students with background
knowledge, arouse their interest in the topic of the reading text and preteach
vocabulary. In addition, Chen and Graves (1995, p.664) aslo define prereading
tasks “devices for bridging the gap between the text’s content and the reader’s
schemata”.
21


It can not be denied that prereading tasks play a crucial role in not only motivating

students through the reading lesson, but also developing students’ reading
performance. After their studies about effects of prereading tasks, different
researchers all provide the same view point that prereading tasks provide and
activate students background information prior to the reading text (Graves &
Chen, 1995; Graves & Cooke, 1980; Hudson, 1982; Johnson, 1981, 1982;
Langer, 1984; Maghsoudi, 2012; Stevens, 1982; Taglieber & Johnson &
Yarbrough, 1988). Furthermore, in Chastain‘s view point (1988), prereading tasks
also arouse students’ interest in the topic and provide them with language
preparation before reading. In addition, Lewis and Hill (1992) emphasize that pre
reading tasks are used to make it easier for students to comprehend the text and
help them only focus their attention on the text.
In conclusion, prereading tasks are very necessary with three core purposes,
namely, building students’ background information before reading, arousing
students’ interest in the topic and providing students some language preparation for
the text before reading.
2.4.2. Prereading Tasks
Various researchers have focused on the prereading stage such as Bowen (1982),
Lewis and Hill (1985), William (1986), Doff (1988), Swaffar (1991), Moore (1992),
Wallace (1992), Nuttal (2000) and Chia (2001). In their studies, they have also
provided several prereading tasks of the first phase of each reading lesson.
2.4.2.1. Giving a brief introduction of the text
It is very essential for teachers to provide an introduction to the topic of an
informative text before students read. A good introduction consists of two main
purposes, namely, establishing a purpose for reading, activating and building
background knowledge. For the first aim, teachers should design appropriate tasks
to match students’ interest to the content of the reading text, to motivate students to
read the text. Furthermore, the second purpose of an introduction to the text
building background knowledge. It means that the introduction can recall any
information students already know about the topic, from their personal experience.
Sharing the same view point, Nuttall (2000) also provides several purposes of a

good introduction to the text, namely, motivating students to read the text,
activating students’ background knowledge about the topic of the text, involving
students actively and being usually short. Hence, several following prereading
tasks are also suggested for a good introduction to the text before reading.
2.4.2.1.1. Giving prereading questions

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Prereading questions are designed to ask students either orally or written on the
blackboard for introducing to the reading text. Doff (1988, p.61) stated obviously
that these questions are essential for students because “they give the students a
reason to read and to lead them to the main points of the text”. These questions
focus on general ideas of the reading text instead of detailed ideas. Normally, pre
reading questions should be designed so that students could easily find out the
answer. Students can work in groups or in pairs to discuss these questions, this can
make students feel excited to try their best for finding out the answers. Also, this is
an effective way to arouse students’ interest into the topic of the text. There are
several types of prereading questions, namely, yes/no questions, multiplechoice
questions as well as ‘wh’ questions.
2.4.2.1.2. Using visual aids
Visual aids consist of photographs, videos, pictures, real objects, flashcards or
charts. It is advised that visual aids should be used at the first stage of each reading
lesson to introduce the text. Visual aids not only provide input for the lesson, but
also keep students’ attention as well as motivate students to read the text. However,
to make using visual aids more effective, visual aids should be related to the topic
of the reading and of students’ interests.
2. 4.2.1.3. Telling a short story
It is advised that the teacher may tell a short story with the topic related to the
reading text. The story is regarded as a brief introduction to the text. In addition,

students also feel excited with the content of the text, which relates to the story the
teacher has already told. Thus, teacher’s story becomes a good introduction to the
text by motivate students to read the text.
2.4.2.1.4. Using games
Using games at prereading stage is also regarded as another effective way for
introducing to the text. Firstly, games encourage students to sustain their interests.
Also, through games, the teacher can create the new contexts where the language is
useful and meaningful.
Several games are suggested to be useful for introducing to the text, namely, lucky
number, crossword and hangman.
2.4.2.1.5. Discussion about the topic of the text
Discussion about the topic of the text at the prereading is also an appropriate and
necessary technique in order to lead to the reading text. Discussion encourages
students to think about the topic as well as to increase their interests in the text. In
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addition, obviously, discussion is very essential not only for the students’
interaction with each other but also for improving their speaking performance.
2.4.2.1.6. Brainstorming
Brainstorming is useful for a good introduction to the text. Wallace (1992) also
points out that brainstorming is considered as one of the most popular prereading
tasks. Firstly, this task is designed by giving students key words. After that, they are
asked to list all words related to key words either orally or written down the paper.
Hence, brainstorming can encourage students to remind of their prior background
knowledge to the topic of the text. Also, this task creates an interesting atmosphere
for all students as well as the lesson.
2. 4.2.2. Providing some language preparation for the text
This task is commonly called as preteaching vocabulary. Before reading, teachers
provide some new words and grammatical structures appearing in the text so that

students can deal with the text. According to Nuttall (1982), at the prereading
phase, to have an efficient way to introducing to the reading text, one of the most
important things teachers need to do is preteaching certain key language items in
the reading text, this is better than presenting them as isolated items. In brief, pre
teaching vocabulary is really needful for a better introduction. It is not only a good
way for students to study all new words and structures of the same context, but it
also gives them language preparation for the text.
Before reading, some prereading tasks are suggested for both teachers and students
to preteach vocabulary effectively.
2.4.2.2.1. Using definitions or explanation
It is a common way to teach vocabulary. Normally, the teacher provides definitions
or explanation of the new words and structures, this not only helps students catch
the meaning of vocabulary but also aids them to study all new words and structures
of the same context as well as arouse their motivation in reading the text. It is
advised for the teacher is that he should provide short and direct definition and
explanation of the new words and structures for the best way of preteaching
vocabulary before reading.
2.4.2.2.2. Using synonyms and antonyms
A new word and structure can also be defined with their synonyms and antonyms.
Therefore, synonyms and antonyms become useful clues for recalling students’
background knowledge as well as preteaching new and difficult vocabulary of the
unfamiliar topic.
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2. 4.2.2.3. Using visual aids
“Visual aids are of great help in stimulating the learning of a foreign
language”(Bowen, 1982, p.1). Specially, using visual aids is regarded as one of the
most effective strategies for preteaching vocabulary. Students feel extremely
excited with presenting the meaning of vocabulary visually through pictures, real

objects, gestures and facial expressions.
2.4.2.2.4. Using games
Several games are also employed for preteaching vocabulary at the prereading stage.
They are language games such as puzzles, crossword and matching.
2.4.2.3. Previewing tasks
These tasks are considered to be the most useful preparation activities which
encourage students to build their own expectations about the content of the text and
how information in the text will be organized. Swaffar (1991) also indicated that
previewing tasks enable students to predict the content of the text. Sharing the same
view point with Swaffar (1991), Chia (2001) points out the benefits of previewing
tasks that encourage students to predict or make some educated guesses about
information in the text.
Several tasks are suggested for anticipating the content of the text. They may
include using the title of the text, using questions, reading the introduction and
conclusion paragraphs, using key words, phrases and statements from the text,
reading the first sentence of each of body paragraphs, skimming the text.
2.4.2.3.1. Using the title of the text
Students are asked to work with the title of the text to establish expectations about
the content of the text since the title of the text directly relates to the content of the
text.
2.4.2.3.2. Using questions
The teacher uses a list of questions to predict the content of the text. These
questions should be brief and relevant with the topic to help students to formulate
hypothesis about the text. Sometimes, student can create their own questions about
information they would expect to read from the text.
2.4.2.3.3. Reading the introduction and conclusion paragraphs
Reading the introduction and conclusion paragraphs enables students to identify the
main ideas to be discussed in the text. Normally, the introduction paragraph

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